Gel in middle of soap

by Carole

I made goats milk soap for the first time and it came out perfect, I never added any colour or fragrance. I then made another two batches one exactly the same and one with rose essential oil added. Both batches don't look right, they have what looks like gel in the middle and cured on the edges and one has oil seeping out this section.

What am I doing wrong?

Answer:

Sometimes it's hard to diagnose a problem without more information and pictures of the final result...I'll make a few guesses and we will go from there.

Not sure what you mean by gel...is the soap soft and gelly like in the middle or just has a clear appearance?

Sometimes soap will reach a full gel in the middle and the center will have a darker more translucent like appearance than the edges. That is simply an asthectic issue and the soap is fine to use. To fix that next time, make sure the soap gels right to the edges of the soap mold.

If it is soft and mushy in the middle...I have no idea what went wrong! I would first think that there wasn't enough lye used but that would affect the entire batch and not just the soap in the middle.

I know that overheating is often an issue with milk soaps. It could be that your soap has overheated and has seperated somewhat. The leaking oil seems to indicate this possibility. Once your milk soap reaches a full gel, uncover it and place a fan on it to help it cool. This should stop it from overheating next time.

Cathy